Parental control for HDD title recording

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for recording a video stream on a recording media, e.g. HDD, wherein the video stream has different parental ratings, and to an apparatus for recording a video stream performing such a method.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for recording a video stream by a recording device on a recording medium, wherein parental ratings of the video stream may change during the recording, the method comprising:
 receiving the video stream, 
 checking if the user has permission to watch the video stream according to his parental level, 
 banning the video stream from being supplied to a display device upon determining that the user is prohibited from watching the video stream according to his parental level, 
 recording the video stream in response to a record command from a user irrespective of whether the user has permission to watch the video stream according to his parental level, 
 checking if a parental rating of the video stream changes during recording, 
 in case a change of the parental rating of the video stream is detected, setting a bookmark in the recorded video stream at a position of the change of the parental rating information, 
 determining whether the user has permission to watch the video stream according to the changed parental rating, and 
 splitting the recorded video stream into different titles according to the parental rating information based on the bookmarks in the recorded video stream after the recording of the video stream is finished. 
 
     
     
       2. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 memorizing the most restrictive parental rating that occurs during a single recording, checking the users permissions in case a playback request is received during said single recording, and 
 banning playback in case a user is prohibited to watch a recording or part of it according to his parental level. 
 
     
     
       3. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the method is applied for recordings on mass storage devices. 
     
     
       4. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the video stream is received from a digital video source. 
     
     
       5. An apparatus for recording a video stream on a recording medium, wherein parental ratings of the video stream may change during the recording, the apparatus comprising:
 a tuner adapted to receive a video stream 
 a recorder adapted to record the received video stream on a recording medium irrespective of a parental level of the user requesting recording of the video stream, and 
 a controller adapted to perform the steps of: 
 checking if the user has permission to watch a video stream according to its parental level, 
 banning the video stream from being supplied to a display device in case the user is prohibited from watching the video stream according to his parental level, 
 checking if a parental rating of the video stream changes during recording, 
 setting a bookmark in the recorded video stream at a position of a change of the parental rating information in case a change of the parental rating information of the video stream is detected, 
 determining whether the user has permission to watch the video stream upon detecting a change in the parental rating, and 
 splitting the recorded video stream into different titles according to the parental rating information based on the bookmarks in the recorded video stream after the recording of the video stream is finished.